Collar Stay

ABSTRACT

A collar stay in which the main body attaches to the collar wing and the collar band attachment attaches to the collar band, said main body lying in a different plane from said collar band attachment in such a way as to admit a tie into the space between the main body and the collar band attachment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/541,084, filed Sep. 30, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to dress shirts, and particularly to collar stays for dress shirts.

2. Prior Art

The problem of what to do to keep a gentleman's dress shirt looking neat has been contemplated by many inventors over the years. The problem that all these inventors have been attempting to solve is that while a freshly starched shirt collar will remain nearly vertical on the wearer's neck, as the day goes on, the collar will begin to lose its stiffness and start curling up, as well as to sprawl out around the wearer's neck rather than remain stiffly vertical (i.e. the angle between the collar proper and the band will increase rather than staying at nearly zero). This detracts from the wearer's appearance.

The standard way of dealing with the problem involves sewing a pocket into the underside of the collar's points and inserting a plastic or metal device called a collar stay into the pocket. This stiffens the collar and prevents the points from curling up; however, such collar stays are not as helpful in maintaining a near-zero angle between the collar proper and the band.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,325 to Pophal offers one way of solving the problem of keeping the collar's points close to the collar band and thus keeping the collar from sprawling out. The Pophal patent discloses a metal wire device shaped like an inverted W; the two ends of the W attach (by means of pins) to the underside of the collar's wings and the middle of the W attaches to the knot of the wearer's tie, thus keeping it properly centered in the collar. The weight of the tie then keeps the collar's points down and keeps the angle between the collar and the band low. However, the design has several drawbacks. First of all, the fact that it is made of metal wire means that long use is likely to fray or even tear the shirt collar. Secondly, it does not directly maintain the angle between the collar and the band; it only does so indirectly by relying on the weight of the tie. If the user's tie is different (for example, a bowtie), the device will not work.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,202 to Rubio is a more complicated way of solving the same problem. The Rubio patent discloses, in one embodiment, an articulated structure comprised of two linear members joined by a rivet. One member is joined to the collar band and the other is joined to the underside of the collar wing. This enables a near-zero angle to be maintained between the collar wing and the band, thus keeping the collar neat. However, the Rubio design is complex, requiring several moving parts, and therefore expensive.

Another similar invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,803 to Blau. The Blau patent discloses a hinge member attached to the collar band and a metal collar stay attached to the collar. The stay snaps into the hinge member when the collar is in place, thus maintaining the proper angle between the collar wing and the band. As with the Rubio design, the Blau design is complex and expensive.

A much simpler way of solving the same problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,744,255 to Portias. The Portias patent discloses a simple flat piece of plastic or similar material with a long ridge that is attached internally to the band of the collar and a protruding collar stay that is attached to the collar wing. This keeps the collar wing attached to the band, and thus maintains the collar's neat appearance. However, due to the fact that the Portias design is a flat piece of plastic, its usage renders it impossible for the wearer to also wear a tie underneath the shirt collar without disturbing the collar stay's attachment.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,004,288 to Krick discloses another similar design. It is a flat piece of plastic or similar material that is shaped into a thin strip that has an open loop on one end. The end of the open loop is attached to the band of the collar; the other end of the strip is attached to the collar wing. This maintains the near-zero angle between the collar wing and the band, and also makes it possible for the wearer to also wear a tie, since the tie can go through the open loop of the device. However, due to the fact that the Krick design is a flexible flat piece of plastic, it may not attach properly to both the collar wing and the collar band, since those two elements lie in different planes. Also, the insertion of a tie may deform the plastic too much to allow it to properly maintain the collar's neat appearance.

A need therefore exists for a simple collar stay that maintains a near-zero angle between the collar wing and the collar band while permitting the insertion of a tie between the two and remaining securely attached to both the collar wing and the collar band.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a collar stay that maintains a near-zero angle between the collar wing and the collar band while permitting the insertion of a tie between the collar wing and the collar band.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a collar stay that remains securely attached to the collar wing and to the collar band when a tie is inserted between the collar wing and the collar band.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a collar stay that is simple and cheap to manufacture.

The collar stay of the present invention comprises a main body that is attached to the collar wing and a collar band attachment that is attached to the collar band, where the main body is rigidly connected to the collar band attachment in such a way as to locate them in parallel or near-parallel planes, with sufficient distance between the planes to enable a tie to pass through the space between the main body and the collar band attachment.

Because of the geometry of the average shirt collar, the collar stay of the present invention is not symmetrical; therefore, a user would need a right and a left version of the collar stay. In some embodiments of the present invention, the right and left version may be labeled with the letters L and R, may be colored differently, or may be distinguished in any other way.

The main body may be sized and shaped in such a way as to enable it to be inserted into a collar stay pocket on the collar wing. For shirts that do not have collar stay pockets, the main body may be attached to the collar wing by means of pins, hook-and-loop fasteners, snaps, adhesives, magnets, or any other means known in the art. Similarly, the collar band attachment may be attached to the collar band by means of pins, hook-and-loop fasteners, snaps, adhesives, magnets, or any other means known in the art.

The collar stay is preferably made of plastic; however, other materials, such as metal, are also possible. The surface of the collar stay may be smooth or rough; the rough surface is preferable, as it would facilitate the use of adhesives.

While in the preferred embodiment, the collar stay is entirely hidden beneath the collar wing, it may also be partially visible when in use. The visible part may be decorated to enhance the appearance of the shirt collar.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

Therefore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the collar stay of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment of the collar stay of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the collar stay of the present invention being inserted into a collar stay pocket.

FIG. 4 shows the collar stay of the present invention attached to a shirt collar.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

With reference to the drawings, the preferred embodiment, and some alternative embodiments, of the new and improved collar stay embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention will now be described.

FIG. 1 shows the preferred embodiment of the collar stay of the present invention. Main body 120 is preferably made of thin flexible plastic or similar material. Collar band attachment 110 is connected to the main body 120 in such a way as to reside in a parallel (or near-parallel) plane from the main body 120. The interplanar angle between the collar band attachment 110 and the main body 120 may also be set to any other desired angle, either permanently or temporarily, though the best mode of practicing the invention requires the angle to be either zero or near-zero. The space between the collar band attachment 110 and the main body 120 is preferably wide enough to enable the user to insert a tie into the space.

Since dress shirt collars are not standardized, the collar stays of the present invention may come in several different sizes and shapes, to fit different styles of shirt collars. While the present invention is intended for gentlemen's dress shirts, it may also be used for any other garments that have a collar, such as ladies' blouses.

The main body 120 is preferably sized in a way that allows it to be inserted into the pocket provided for collar stays on the collar wings of a dress shirt. However, since not all dress shirts have such pockets, the main body 120 may also be attached to the collar in other ways, such as pins, adhesives, Velcro fasteners, snaps, or other means of attachment known in the art. The collar band attachment 110 is preferably attached to the collar by Velcro hooks 130, as shown in FIG. 2. The collar band attachment may also be attached to the collar by adhesives, pins, snaps, magnets, or other means of attachment known in the art.

FIG. 3 shows a transitional point in the process of attaching the collar stay to a shirt collar. The main body 120 of collar stay 100 is being inserted into the collar stay pocket 210 of collar 200. The collar is flipped up for that part of the process. After the main body 120 is fully inserted into the collar stay pocket 210, the collar 200 is flipped down and the collar band attachment 110 is attached to the collar band 220. In the preferred embodiment, the collar band attachment 110 has Velcro hooks on it that attach it securely to the collar band 220. In an alternate embodiment, the collar band attachment 110 may have adhesive applied to it before the collar is flipped down, so that when the collar is flipped down, the collar band attachment 110 is securely attached to the collar band 220. Other means of attachment, such as snaps, pins, magnets, or any other means of attachment known in the art, are also possible.

FIG. 4 shows the collar stays of the present invention in use on a shirt collar. Because the preferred embodiment of the present invention is not symmetrical, a user would need a right and a left version of the design. In an embodiment of the invention, the right and left version can be colored differently, labeled with the letters L and R, or distinguished in some other way.

The collar stay of the present invention may be manufactured in many different ways. In the preferred embodiment, the collar stay is manufactured as one piece of plastic, preferably injection-molded. However, the collar stay may also be made of metal or any other material that is slightly flexible but that can provide the needed support and stiffness to the collar wing. The preferred way to manufacture a metal collar stay would be by bending a strip of thin sheetmetal in the desired configuration. The collar stay may also be manufactured out of two separate pieces that are then joined together—i.e. the main body and the collar band attachment may be two separate parts that are then rigidly joined together at the desired angle and distance between them.

The surface of the collar stay may be smooth or rough. A rough surface is preferable, since the additional friction will ensure that the collar stay will remain in place, and the rough surface will provide a greater surface area for any needed adhesive, if adhesive is used. However, the collar stay may also have a smooth surface, or any other surface treatment or coating.

The collar stay of the present invention may be decorated or embellished with various designs, and may be colored. It may also be used as an advertising medium. While in the preferred embodiment, the collar stay is not visible when in use, other embodiments may be partially visible from underneath the shirt collar, or may comprise visible fasteners. The visible parts of the collar stay may be decorated to enhance the user's appearance.

The manner of usage and operation of the present invention should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.

It is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, including variations in size, materials, shape, form, function, and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered to be illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

1. A collar stay, comprising: a main body that can be attached to the underside of the collar wing of a shirt collar; a collar band attachment that can be attached to the collar band of a shirt collar; said main body rigidly connected to said collar band attachment in such a way as to ensure that they are located in parallel or near-parallel planes, with enough distance between the planes to enable the insertion of a tie between the main body and the collar band attachment.
 2. The collar stay of claim 1, where the main body can be inserted into a collar stay pocket on the collar wing of a shirt collar.
 3. The collar stay of claim 1, where the main body further comprises a means of attaching the main body to the collar wing of a shirt collar.
 4. The collar stay of claim 1, where the collar band attachment further comprises a means of attaching the collar band attachment to the collar band of a shirt collar.
 5. The collar stay of claim 3, where the means of attaching is permanent.
 6. The collar stay of claim 3, where the means of attaching is temporary.
 7. The collar stay of claim 4, where the means of attaching is permanent.
 8. The collar stay of claim 4, where the means of attaching is temporary.
 9. The collar stay of claim 1, further comprising a feature sufficient to indicate to the user whether the collar stay is intended for the right or left side of the shirt collar.
 10. The collar stay of claim 1, where the collar stay is made of sheet metal.
 11. The collar stay of claim 1, where the collar stay is made of plastic.
 12. The collar stay of claim 1, where the relative position of the main body with regards to the collar band attachment may be adjusted by the user.
 13. The collar stay of claim 1, where the main body is of such a shape as to be completely hidden under the collar wing of the shirt collar when in use.
 14. The collar stay of claim 1, where the main body is of such a shape as to be partially visible when in use.
 15. The collar stay of claim 1, where the fastener attaching the main body to the collar wing is visible when in use. 